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I  CONGREGATIONAL  HOUSE,  BOSTON. 


Village  Schools,  No.  i. 


BY 


Rev.  C.  C.  TRACY, 


OF  ANATOLIA  COLLEGE,  MARSOVAN,  TURKEY. 


Leaflet  No.  9, 

Issued  by  Committee  on  Junior  Work. 


Village  Schools  in  Turkey. 


BY  C.  C.  TRACY,  OF  ANATOLIA  COLLEGE, 
MARSOVAN. 


ITHIN  the  last  quarter  century  a  vast 


V  V  system  of  common  schools  has  been  de¬ 
veloped  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  From  these 
have  come  forth,  in  the  main,  the  high  schools 
and  colleges.  Whatever  may  be  said  to  the 
contrary,  the  great  procuring  cause  of  this  re¬ 
markable  educational  movement,  hitherto,  has 
been  evangelism.  The  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
the  publication  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  tongues 
of  the  people,  the  issue  of  religious  books  and 
periodicals,  have  stirred  up  inquiry  and  set  the 
land  agog,  especially  in  regard  to  desire  for 
knowledge. 

The  Evangelicals  have  signally  led  in  this 
movement,  and  they  were  first  led  by  the  gospel, 
in  this  direction,  as  they  are  still.  The  signifi¬ 
cance  of  all  this  is  such  as  may  well  attract 
the  earnest  attention  of  American  Christians,  and 
enlist  their  deepest  sympathy. 

The  fact  that  evangelical  truth  is  the  prime 
mover  and  chief  promoter  of  anything  so  great 
as  a  whole  school  system,  is  a  weighty  one ;  but 


the  fact  that  the  same  truth  has  the  opportunity 
to  be  the  rnolder  and  controller  of  the  system 
is  a  weightier  one. 

The  evangelical  colleges  in  the  Empire  easily 
take  their  place  as  the  leading  educational  insti¬ 
tutions  of  the  land.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  evangelical  seminaries  for  girls,  and  high 
schools  for  boys,  as  far  as  solid  and  symmetrical 
training  is  concerned. 

The  question  arises,  How  is  it  with  the  com¬ 
mon  and  village  schools  ?  Has  the  evangelical 
influence  the  same  advantage  here?  I  should 
say,  Yes,  so  far  as  it  goes.  It  is  not  so  ex¬ 
tended  as  it  ought  to  be,  nor  is  the  full  amount 
of  attention  required  given  to  this  part  of  the 
work.  It  is  of  consequence  that  we  build  walls 
as  well  as  towers.  Good  colleges  and  good  high 
schools  will  not  long  be  possible  unless  there 
is  an  extended  and  excellent  system  of  common 
schools  for  them  to  rest  upon.  No  system  of 
evangelism  or  of  education  is  sound  which  does 
not  contemplate  reaching  the  whole  population. 
And  let  me  say  here  that,  in  our  part  of  the 
missionary  world  at  least,  evangelical  education 
is  so  identified  with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
that  no  line  of  distinction  can  be  drawn  between 
the  two. 

The  subject  of  the  village  schools,  then,  rises 
before  us  in  all  its  importance.  In  these  schools 
are  found,  at  the  most  impressible  age,  the 
young  minds  which  are  to  control  thought  and 
character  thirty  years  hence.  To  whom  shall 
such  a  work  as  this  be  committed  ?  Who 


—  3  — 


guides  here,  guides  almost  all.  Here  is  the 
watershed  that  turns  the  streams  to  either  sea. 

In  such  a  country  a  really  capable  teacher  — 
man  or  woman — is  a  person  of  great  weight  in 
the  village,  not  to  say  in  the  cities  also.  He 
or  she  is  the  learned,  the  wise  one,  the  personage 
of  the  community,  the  authority  in  science,  the 
counselor  in  doubt,  the  referee  in  difficulty.  In 
places  where  no  regular  preacher  can  be  sup¬ 
ported —  and  there  are  many  such  — the  discreet 
and  sensible  teacher  becomes  the  spiritual  and 
intellectual  leader  of  the  people  —  the  pastor. 
In  not  a  few  instances  women  have  attained  to 
this  degree  of  influence. 

And  what  a  fountain  of  influence  a  village 
may  be!  I  could  point  to  more  than  one  such 
place  that  has  developed  a  dozen  or  a  score  of 
leading  personages  in  the  evangelical  ranks. 

The  better  development  of  the  village  school 
system  is  a  work  which  the  Woman’s  Boards 
may  well  lay  hold  of  with  all  the  enthusiasm 
which  marks  their  operations.  There  is  a  large 
sense  in  which  a  Woman’s  Board  may  become 
the  mother  of  a  rising  generation  in  a  distant 
land. 

Ladies  in  the  Central  Turkey  Mission  have 
acted  as  superintendents  of  the  common  schools 
in  the  field.  They  could  hardly  do  better  work. 
If  there  is  any  branch  of  the  work  which  at  the 
present  time  needs  special  thought,  and  care, 
and  prayer,  it  is  the  planting  and  guiding  of 
such  schools.  They  must  be  thoroughly  visited 
and  kept  toned  up;  inefficient  teachers  must 


—  4  — 


be  weeded  out.  The  importance  of  the  work 
ought  to  be  magnified.  Various  means  and 
measures  should  be  instituted  for  enthusing  the 
teachers  and  the  pupils,  for  there  is  nothing 
duller  than  a  school  without  enthusiasm. 

There  are  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  One 
of  them  is  the  desirableness  of  adhering  to  the 
policy  of  self-support.  To  establish  free  schools 
is  to  insure  non- success,  according  to  our  idea  of 
success.  We  wish  to  plant  institutions,  not  in 
pots,  but  in  the  soil,  where  they  shall  not  need 
indefinite  foreign  irrigation  to  make  them  grow. 
The  poverty  of  the  people  is  such  as  to  make 
this  difficult,  but  the  difficulty  can  be  largely 
overcome  by  increase  of  spirit  and  numbers. 
The  spirit  of  self-sacrificing  love  will  accomplish 
almost  anything,  anywhere. 

It  is  time  this  subject  was  made  prominent. 
Let  the  young  people  undertake  to  bring  it  for¬ 
ward  and  prosecute  it. 


The  Committee  on  Junior  Work  proposes  to  issue  a  series 
of  leaflets  on  the  village  schools  of  different  countries. 

Articles  containing  interesting  information  on  this  subject 
may  also  be  found  in 


Missionary  Herald 
Missionary  Herald 
Life  and  Light  . 
Life  and  Light  . 
Life  and  Light  . 
Dayspring 


August,  1889. 
June,  1891. 
February,  1887. 
September,  1890. 
November,  189a 
October,  1887. 


Price,  two  cents. 


—  5  — 


